Environment

Recycling and repurposing materials can not only be a cost- savings in what is – for many people – tight financial times; it’s also becoming hip. Even Martha Stewart talks up repurposed furniture and décor.

ReStore is one of the local operations riding on the trend. What might appear to be a discount hardware store, actually sells new and “gently-used” building materials, furniture and the like. The proceeds help fund local Habitat for Humanity affiliates build and renovate homes.

Controversy continues churning in Wisconsin over a potential mining operation in the far north.Advocates say the venture promises much-needed jobs; opponents fear irreparable damage to pristine waterways and wetlands.Last month, Republican lawmakers pushed a strongly debated bill through the Assembly. A Senate Select Committee could unveil its version as early as today.

For the second time in a matter of weeks, the head of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa traveled hundreds of miles to Milwaukee. Mike Wiggins hopes to sway public opinion against the wisdom of an iron ore mine upstream from his tribe’s reservation near Lake Superior.

Wiggins appealed to the Rotary Club of Milwaukee as a GOP-driven bill barrels through the Legislature. It would streamline the permitting process in order to provide certainty to the interested company.

Wiggins says the bill would wield a devastating blow to the region’s air and water.

We normally think of debate and discussion over topics such as water quality and climate change in either scientific or economic terms. For example, what are the implications for business and employment in the face of increased environmental regulation?

Mining is in the air at the state capitol. Yesterday, Democratic Senator Tim Cullen unveiled his version of a iron ore mining bill he believes balances environmental protection and the potential of jobs in the Penokee Hills that straddle Iron and Ashland counties.

The bill relates to a proposed mining operation just below Lake Superior, in the wetland- and stream-rich Bad River watershed. Meanwhile, at this hour in Madison, a recently released GOP bill is being scrutinized and commented on at a public hearing - it is the only one scheduled for the bill.

Just hours after Gov. Walker said his agenda includes rewriting Wisconsin's mining laws, Republican legislators introduced a slightly-reworked mining bill. Most of it is similar to the plan the Senate rejected by one vote last year.

New GOP Senator Tom Tiffany touted the new plan as one that would enable the state to create thousands of new jobs without weakening environmental standards.

The Port of Milwaukee announced this week that the wind turbine that supplies energy to the port’s administration building has been paying dividends to the city. In less than a year of operation, the turbine shifted electrical costs at the port by almost $15,000 dollars. In fact, the electrical utility actually paid the port for the surplus energy it produced.

A report in yesterday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel indicates Republican legislative leaders in Wisconsin plan to introduce new legislation to streamline the permit process for mining in Wisconsin. New assembly speaker Robin Vos said such legislation could come as early as next week.

A similar bill – AB426 - was defeated in the state senate this year, but Vos and other Republican leaders are optimistic that with revisions, such a bill would see passage - which could pave the way for a new iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.